Ben Gibbard Talks Nostalgia As Postal Service Reunite At Coachella

What’s wrong with a little nostalgia if it makes you feel good? Over the weekend at Coachella we saw a few nostalgia fueled reunions — the return of the Wu Tang Clan on Sunday night, which has been widely hailed as a victory march for the giant hip hop collective. A new generation of fans were introduced to ’90s Brit pop band Blur. And, among the most anticipated, a reunion of the Postal Service.

The group, founded by Death Cab for Cutie’sBen Gibbard and producer Jimmy Tamborello, along with Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley, had the biggest selling electronic album of 2003. That album, Give Up, eventually went platinum, selling over a million copies worldwide.

When Gibbard stopped in for an interview with Radio.com, he spoke at length about the phenomenon of nostalgia, addressing his own and the feelings engendered by his bands.

“I only really live with this when we’re playing these songs live,” Gibbard said, referring to Death Cab for Cutie. “But I think it’s really fascinating when we’re playing a show and the kids are always, the younger kids are always up front because that’s where kids go at shows, and we’ll play something form the first couple of albums. You’ll see a kid who isn’t older than late teens, early 20s going bananas for a song that is now 12 years old.”

“They have clearly discovered it outside of it’s contemporary time,” Gibbard continued,” but their relationship to it is as if it was a new record because it’s new to them. Those moments, when they happen, really mean a lot to me.”